The invention relates to power supplies, particularly power supplies for charging the batteries of portable defibrillators.
Portable defibrillators, such as the PD 1400 Series Products available from Zoll Medical Corporation of Burlington, Mass., deliver high energy shocks to a patient's chest for defibrillation. Typically, portable defibrillators employ batteries (e.g., lead acid batteries) to store power for generating such shocks. Eventually, the power stored in the batteries is used, and the batteries must be recharged from a source of AC power.
AC power supplies, which convert AC power to DC power, have been used for operating a portable defibrillator and for recharging the batteries in the portable defibrillator. Approaches to using AC power supplies include: building an AC power supply into the portable defibrillator; supplying an AC power supply in a separate box that includes a cord for attachment to the portable defibrillator; attaching the portable defibrillator into a "docking station" that contains an AC power supply (so that the combination of the docking station and the portable defibrillator is not itself portable); and removing the batteries from the portable defibrillator for charging in a separate AC powered unit (in which case the AC powered unit does not power the defibrillator).